Bay 12 Games Forum

June 1, 1996 - Six Years Later

The first six months of '96 have proven very eventful. The Third Taiwanese Strait Crisis continued from the previous year and nearly escalated when the Red Chinese intelligence service, the Ministry of State Security, attempted to sponsor a Communist coup in the Republic of China (Taiwan) however the operation failed miserably. The crisis has since calmed down (much like in real-life) however there were further crisis events over the following months. Turkish President Süleyman Demirel was overthrown in a military coup instigated by Soviet operatives in the country. The United States attempted to retaliate by arming Soviet dissidents and sabotaging Soviet economic assets however both operations failed - even a U.S. condemnation attempt backfired and the Soviets successfully condemned the United States multiple times. The Soviet Baltic Sea Fleet was conducting extensive drills off the coast of Germany for nearly two months when the Russians readied a military strike against the Federal Republic of Germany prompting the U.S. President to take action. While the U.S. government issued a formal diplomatic protest and even threatened to restrict trade back to Cold War levels, the  Soviets ignored both. As their Backfire bombers entered German airspace and warships took up position for naval bombardment, the U.S. President warned that if the Soviet Union followed through with its attack the United States would retaliate with military force. The President's ultimatum worked and the Russians recalled their Backfire bombers as well as their fleet. World War III was averted...for now. However this close-call along with the Turkish coup has proven that rumors of a Second Cold War are no longer unfounded and many are now calling for restricting trade with the Soviet Union and all members of the Imperialist Bloc. While the Soviet Union did back down it wasn't the sanctions threat that stopped them it was the military threat. And one cannot ignore that the KGB was directly involved in a coup d'état against a NATO member. Furthermore several additional countries came under the control of pro-Soviet governments most notably Mexico. Current sentiment with Mexico is indifferent (neutral) so preemptive military action might be unwise until it is too late. Gaddafi's decision to join the Imperialist Soviet Bloc is continuing to drastically reshape the political landscape of the Middle East and North Africa with seven member of the Arab League now having Imperialist systems of government. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is now the de facto leader of the anti-Soviet opposition within the Arab League while Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has amazingly not yet joined the Soviet Bloc. And with the recent coup in Turkey, the Russians now have a direct land bridge between their homeland and Israel further increasing speculation among fundamental protestants that the End Times are imminent.

Retro Planet Simulation (aka Shadow President World) - Six Years Later

Third Taiwanese Strait Crisis (continued)

Soviet-Sponsored Coup In Turkey

April 22nd, 1996 World War III Close Call

And here's some non-Shadow President pictures I feel fit into the timeline of my current playthrough:

Alexander Rutskoy, Supreme Chancellor of the Soviet Union

Flag of the (Imperialist) Soviet Union

Soviet Backfire bomber violates German air space in 1996

Additional U.S. Troops arrive in Europe during the 1996 Soviet-German crisis

Let's Play Shadow President

Hello everyone I'm ba-ack! After having taken a much needed break from both the game and Bay 12 Games Forum I have decided to give Let's Play Shadow President another go and it appears now that my extended break has paid off. I have roughly 4-5 in-game years built up so I probably won't be going into details for June 1, 1990 - June 1, 1994 however I will be giving a recap for that time period and I will provide more details on request. I am currently on June 1, 1995 and I will be giving a detailed account of late 1994. I am attempting to more or less follow the 1990s because that was a very memorable time for me when I lived it but I will be depicting an alternate U.S. military response to the conflicts that took place in real-life during that time period. Also this new thread isn't just for me to share my Let's Plays. Everyone on Bay 12 is welcome to share their playthroughs as well and you don't have to wait until I finish my current one to do so. Suggestions for how I proceed with my current and future LPs is also welcome.

June 1, 1995 -- Five Years Later
It is now mid-1995 and the world is a very different place from when I first began my term in office. The Cold War is more or less over with Communism having declined significantly however it now appears that Imperialism is gradually taking its place. Following a brief stance as a friendly nation helping the United States in running the free world, the now-Imperialist Soviet Union which is ruled by a very unholy alliance of communists, nationalists, and monarchists has formed a new alliance with a number of countries including South Africa still under its Apartheid system, Yugoslavia ruled by Slobodan Milošević with nuclear ambitions, and now it appears they'll be joined Liberia which was recently taken over by Charles Taylor. Ironically the Soviet Union is currently rated by the NSA as "rivalry" rather then "enmity" which means relations aren't quite as bad as the Communist era but still not good. Only countries I have enmity status with from what I've seen are Cuba, Iran, Laos, Sudan, and Vietnam. For this reason I am reluctant to restrict trade with Russia again at this time and have only dropped it from MFN to Regulated back in '94. I imagine late 1995 will be uneventful as there were no major conflicts in late 1995 except for the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis though that didn't become intense until 1996. Having lost very badly in North Korea, China may or may not want to try to complete the Chinese Civil War once and for all by taking Taiwan. To ensure Taiwan's defense I am considering sending additional U.S. forces into the region as well as as much intelligence, military, and nuclear aid as possible so the Red Chinese can't just blitzkrieg them so easily without paying a heavy price.

1990 - 1994 Recap
The Gulf War for the most part went similar to real-life with Iraq occupying Kuwait in August 1990, a U.N. Coalition (U.S., U.K., France, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia) defending Saudi Arabia, and finally said Coalition liberating Kuwait from Iraqi control with a 100 hour campaign. Things started going different in mid-March when Iraq despite losing half its forces attacked Jordan with the obvious goal of reaching Israel. The United States and amazingly the Soviet Union successfully defended Jordan and Iraq was reduced to just over a quarter of its original military might. August Coup happened like in real-life with Communist Hardliners briefly overthrowing Gorbachev then a popular uprising led by Yeltsin defeated the coup and reinstated Gorby but as a mere figurehead to Yeltsin with Soviet ideology becoming Developing Capitalist. I'm assuming Gorby still resigned in December 1991 and Yeltsin became Soviet President (game engine negates possibility of actual dissolution. Anyways the Soviet Union and United States were on much better terms for a time with the Red Chinese continuously trying to help the banned CPSU regain power. By the end of 1992 China, North Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, and Laos were the only remaining communist states. The U.S. took a more aggressive approach in dealing with General Aidid and his Somali militia by launching a full-scale military invasion and helping Nationalist Ethiopia to takeover the country. Meanwhile the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis ended with very different results with Yeltsin being overthrown and the Soviet Union becoming Imperialist. Through early 1994, South Africa cancelled its repeal of Apartheid and Yugoslavia became Imperialist. U.S. managed to avert a Soviet surgical strike on Japan.

Second Korean War
Due to the ongoing nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. President sent Henry Kissinger (instead of Jimmy Carter whom Bill Clinton sent in real-life) to North Korea to try to negotiate however the effort failed when Kim tried pulling the wool over Kissinger's eyes to bide his time to eventually resume work on developing nuclear weapons but Henry caught on immediately and informed the President of the attempted deception. Not wanting to take a chance the President ordered a military surgical strike which successfully leveled much of the Yongbyon Nuclear facility. While in an ideal world it would have ended there, North Korea retaliated by launching a full-scale invasion of South Korea, igniting the Second Korean War. North Korea's ground invasion of South Korea ended on July 19, 1994 exactly one month after the United States launched an air and cruise missile strike which obliterated North Korea's nuclear program. North Korea's military losses were especially heavy following the death of North Korean President Kim Il Sung on July 8, 1994. His son and successor Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il accused the American C.I.A. of murdering his father and making it appear to be natural causes and vowed to continue the war to reunite the Korean Peninsula under the North. However this wasn't to be and United Nations Command forces consisting of U.S., ROK, and Japanese force defeated the North Koreans and them back across the DMZ. The leaders of the United States and South Korean leaders began considering a plan to end the decades-long Korean conflict once and for all by launching a ground invasion of North Korea. The Red Chinese announced they would oppose any offensive actions against their ally and the Soviet Union declaring neutrality in the conflict has refused to give U.S. forces permission to use its territory to open a second front against North Korea. Japan's role is uncertain as their only motivation for joining in the war was to help South Korea defend itself and now that has been successful many in Japan wish to avoid taking part in an invasion of North Korea due to wanting to distance itself from its Militarist past. Once the United States had increased troop deployment levels in South Korea and Japanese Self-Defense Forces had completed its withdrawal from South Korea, the United States and South Korea launched a full-scale invasion of North Korea. The People's Republic of China kept true to its word and came to North Korea's defense which has effectively prolonged the Korean War. Despite the Red Chinese and North Korean forces outnumbering United Nations Command forces nearly three-to-one, the United States and South Korea clearly have the upper hand in terms of quality due to greater military spending and money spent for training each soldier. It is still hopeful that the war will be over and America can bring its troops home in time for Christmas. The Second Korean War ended on November 24th, 1994 when North Korea unconditionally surrendered to South Korea and the United States. Ironically the Second Chinese Volunteer Army withdrew from the fighting on Thanksgiving Day especially seeing that Chinese intervention began during the First Korean War on Thanksgiving Day back in 1950. By that point the Chinese had lost a quarter of its military (naerly a million) so they were faced with the choice to either pull out or use nuclear weapons - fortunately they choose the former. United Nations casulties were 5,575, Communist casualties were 1,447,281, and estimated civilian death toll was nearly 250,000. At an estimated 1,700,000 casualty rate, the Second Korean War was the deadliest military conflict since the Vietnam War. Tragically among the dead was South Korean President Kim Young-sam who was assassinated by a Chinese intelligence agent on behalf of North Korea. South Korea which was already under martial law due to the war took further steps to clamp down on leaks but in doing so had become more corrupt with human rights becoming restricted. Park Geun-hye, daughter of Park Chung Hee, became the new President of South Korea. The United States initially considered assassinating Jiang Zemin, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in retaliation but decided against it. Instead the C.I.A. assassinated North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il, bringing a sudden end to his short reign. Kim Jong-nam became the next leader of North Korea though his rule only lasted days before his country capitulated and he was taken into custody.

Shadow President World - Five Years Later

Team Alliances and Leading Ideologies 1990 -1994

1992 United States presidential election

Persian Gulf War

Soviet August 1991 Coup, 1993 Russian Constitutional Crisis

Somalia Conflict

Second Korean War

Operation Uphold Democracy

Quote from: Magmacube_tr on May 31, 2023, 06:00:53 pm

Forum be dying! Why can it be though?

We shall endure just as we have every time this has happened in the past.

Also there doesn't really seem to be a reason this time, I mean the forum isn't even that active right now so it can't be that.

The denial of service attackers say otherwise.

Restoration

Soviet Storm Rising (Let's Play Update)

June 1, 1992 - Two Years Later

The Second Cold War between Capitalist U.S.A. and Nationalist China thus far remains "cold" with no major sign of open hostilities. The Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics under President Gorbachev has become more free society under the ideology of Democratic Socialism with the Communist monopoly on the central government becoming a thing of the past; Angola has followed their ally's example. Democratic Socialism has also become the ruling ideology in India which has officially cost China their most powerful ally as well as ending nearly two years of alignment. Israel, with U.S. aid, has managed to conquer a number of additional countries throughout the Middle East including Iran. Angola and Zaire remain at war and the conflict is nearing its second year; President Bush is considering the deployment of U.S. troops to aid Angola against Zaire to force the latter's unconditional surrender since the former is now a free country and the conflict has been going on far too long.

World Map Stats

Additional Land Holdings

Angolan-Zairean War

Man, I didn't think it was possible to be at war with the soviet union without a nuclear winter popping off!

Shadow President is always one of those games I love reading about and wish I had more time to dedicate to really learning. Wish there was a modern equivalent.

Bringing down Soviet ambition certainly helps. A few dozen surgical strikes could do the trick...just as long as their threat on the last surgical strike wasn't a nuclear strike AND their ambition was lowered in that last strike, then retaliation should be avoided. Of course obviously very risky but then again so is successfully defending Germany while the Soviets are "Ruthless". Any ruthless country that loses a conventional battle tends to launch a limited nuclear strike...even the U.S. in such a case tends to launch whether the player likes it or not so keeping an eye on America's ambition is a must.

Is it due to their nuke arsenal?  I don't see them being very capable in a conventional military confrontation.

France could respond to another Chinese surgical strike with nuclear force which would force the Chinese to respond in kind against France. My nearby allies would suffer great loss of life if that were to happen. Yes I'd be forced to nuke China for that but at the same time I'd have to hold France responsible for launching first and invade them.